Show stand display container



June 20, 1950 A. HURNDELL 2,512,546

SHOW STAND DISPLAY CONTAINER Fil ed 00x. 4, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lnuenlor aku/M WEfa A llorney June 2 0, 1950 A. HURNDELL 2,512,546

SHOW STAND DISPLAY CONTAINER Filed Oct. 4, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .V aw l llorney Patented- June 20, 1950 2,512,546 r SHOVt STAND D ISPLAY CONTAINER Allan-Hur'ndell London, England, assignor of one-half to Robertson & Woodcock Limited, London, England, a British company Application October 4, 1946, Serial No. 701,183

In Great Britain February 21, 1946 This invention relates to containers for articles such as confectionery,toothbrushes and other articles which are of small dimensions and can be accommodated in containers 'suitable for placing in position on retailerscounters and other situations in which they are viewable by customers or prospective customers, and is concerned more particularly with containers in which provision is made for the display of their contents.

In this connection, it is known to provide the upper parts or lids of such containers'with transparent portions through which the contents may be observed and it is also knownto provide a container with means or a partwhich, after the container has been opened, may ,befolded up or otherwise displaced and is adapted to form an advertising device. 1

In accordance with the present invention, however, there is provided an improved "form of container wherein a part thereofis adapted, preferably when the container isopene'd'up for sale of the articles therein, to be brought into a position in which it may serve as a stand or support for the display of one or more of such articles. r

The invention is applicable to containers for accommodating wrapped or unwrapped articles and, in practicable forms of the invention, the part which is adapted to form the display stand may be constituted by a portion of the lid, cover, bottom, sides or ends of the container and is preferably provided with one or more unit-holding sections, ledges, grooves or cut-away portions on or in which the article or articles may be placed for display purposes.

The lid or cover of the container may be of the hinged, fixed or detachable variety and, in carrying the invention into effect according to one convenient mode, the part which is adapted to form the display stand is constituted by a partially cut-out portion of the said'lid or cover, the partially cut-out portion being shaped and arranged so as to enable it to be turned or folded about a crease or fold-line in order to bring the cut-out display stand forward or otherwise erected out of the plane of the lid or cover. If desired, the lid or cover may be arranged to fold about a transverse crease or fold-line to bring oneend part thereof which carries the cutout display stand into superimposed relationto the other end part of the lid or cover so that the latter when folded continues to serve as'a closure for a part, preferably the-front part, of the container whilst acting as a support for the erected 3 Claims. (Cl. 206-4411) display stand. Alternatively, the arrangement may be such that, when the container has been opened, the'lid or cover can be displacedsup wardly and folded about transverse lines or creases to bring one end or part of the same into a raised position with the other end or part forming a supporting strut therefor. Preferably, the aforesaid raised portion is folded to produce a plinth or pedestal and provided with a part which may be displaced out of the-plane thereof,

e. g. upwardly, to formthe-aforesaiddisplay stand. For example, the portion adapted to be raised may be formed with a partially cut-out portion which is shaped and formed so as to enable it to be turned or folded about a line or crease in order to bring the cut-out portion, forwardly or out of the plane of the raised portion.

If desired, the cut-out portion may also be provided with tabs or wings which may be turned back to engage with the folded or raised part of the lid or cover and to serve as struts for the cutout portion when the latter is in itsioperatiVe position. In addition, the cut-out portion may, as stated, be provided with one or more ledges, grooves or cut-away portions or other means for supporting the articles to be displayed in position thereon.

According to another feature :of they invention, the aforesaid folded or raised portion and/or the display stand portion is or are arranged or formed to form a frontal screen or other means adapted to reduce the possibility of pilfering to a minimum whilst at the same time leaving the rear portion of the container open (when the lid has been folded or raised) and readily accessible to the retailer. i

It will be appreciated that the invention is applicable to a wide variety of containers and that the display stand portion thereof may be of any desired shape and dimensioned to suit the form of the articles to be displayed.

It is to be understood that for some forms of containers, the cut-out portion adapted to serve for display purposes may be situated at or on the bottom of the container with a perforated tear-out panel or cut-out thereby enabling the container to be packed through an open top, but

adapted to be inverted for display purposes.

The invention is also directed to the provision of blanks from which containers or container lidsembodying the principles of the 'inventioncan be produced. v

To enable the invention to be-clearly understood and readily'carried into effect,'severa1 constructional embodiments thereof will: hereinafter be described by way of example and without implied limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a cut-out blank from which a container embodying the present invention can be produced;

Fig. 2 shows in perspective view a partly formed container produced by folding the blank shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows the container completely formed and closed;

Fig. 4 shows the complete container partly opened with the display stand erected;

Fig. 5 is a detail, drawn to a, larger scale, of an alternative form of fastening means;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of an alternative embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a further alternative form of the invention.

In the form shown in Fig. 1, the blank from which the container is produced comprises a substantially rectangular sheet of suitable material, for example, cardboard, millboard, or light gauge sheet metal, which is cut out, slit and provided with fold creases or fold lines (as indicated by broken lines in the drawing) to define the container base I; outer side walls 2 with top flaps 4 and'end flaps it; end walls 3 with top flap 8, tuckin flap l3 and end flaps 9; outer end walls 5, 5a with interfitting slots H, Ha inner side walls 6, 6a and lid or cover 1 with tuck-in flap l2. The blank so far described above is of known form and can be folded in known manner to produce the closed container as shown in Fig. 3. The stages of folding the blank are clearly indicated in Figs. 2 and 4 to which references corresponding to the reference numerals used on Fig. 1, are applied.

In order to carry the present invention into effect, the lid or cover portion 1 of the blank is partially cut out to form a display stand M which remains attached to the blank along fold or crease line l5, and transverse fold or crease line I! is applied to the cover portion 1. Locking tongues l8 are also partially cut out from the lid portion 1 of the blank, and corresponding slots l9 formed in the top flaps 4 of the container side walls. Alternatively, the locking tongues and slots may be in the form shown in Fig. 5 in which the tongue I 80. formed in the lid 1 or side flap 4, and the slot [9a. formed in the side flap 4, or lid 1, are adapted to interlock so as to hold the sides 2 of the container in fixed relation.

The display stand 14 is given a curved ornamental outline and is made wider at its base to provide two wings or tabs 20 eachof which folds along line 22 and is provided with a recess 24 for edge to edge locking engagement in a corresponding recess 25 formed in the edge of the opening from which the display stand is cut out. Elongated slots 23 are provided in the display stand to form ledges upon which to rest and display articles taken from the container. Alternatively, appropriate parts of the display stand may be slit, and folded or bent to provide a shelf or shelves upon which to rest the article or articles.

When the container as above described is in use it will be packed, whilst open, with articles, for example pieces of confectionery, and the lid or cover 1 then closed to seal the box as shown in Fig. 3. The openings 23 in the display stand outout '4 may be covered with opaque material, or may be left open or covered internally or externally with a, transparent medium so that the contents of the container can be viewed therethrough.

When it is desired to display and sell the contents of the container the lid or cover 1 will be swung upwards about its fold. line IE to a position as shown in Fig. 2 and the cut-out l4 pushed outwards. The outer end of the lid 1 will then be folded inwards so as to lie flat against the inner end thereof which bears the cut-out display stand, and the folded lid then brought back to rest upon the top flaps 4 as shown in Fig. 4. The tuck-in flap E2 of the lid 1 is first tucked-in between the inner end wall 3 and adjacent ends of the top flaps 4, and the tongues l8 inserted in the slots is to lock the folded lid and side walls of the container together.

The cut out [4 is then erected by turning it upwards about its fold line l5, and the side wings or tabs 20 folded backwardsabout fold lines 22 to form struts which are locked in position by the edge to edge engagement of recesses 24, 25. The cut-out thus forms a display stand as shown in Fig. 4 and articles taken from the container may be rested in the recesses 23.

The rear top flap 8 is folded downwards to lie against therear end wall 3, and the corresponding tuck-in flap I 3 is bent at right angles thereto and inserted beneath a tongue 2| which may be separately formed and attached to the bottom I of the container, or partially cut out therefrom and bent upwardly. The rear part of the container is thus left open so that the articles may be served therefrom, whilst the front part is closed and the contents screened from casual pilfering or soiling by unauthorised handling.

In the alternative embodiment of the invention shown in Fig.6, by providing the lid or cover I with additionalfold-lines or crease-lines 26, 21, and suitably disposing the locking tongues i8 and slots IS, the lid 1 may be folded and secured in position to form a plinth or pedestal upon which the display stand I4 is raised above the normal level of the container lid. In this form of the invention, the supporting plinth renders difficult the casual pilfering or unauthorised handling of the articles in the container.

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig. I, in which the bottom or base I of the container is perforated to define a display stand cut-out l4 and atear-out panel 28. In this form, the container will be packed in normal manner through the open top and sealed with a plain, uncut lid orcover.

In order to display and serve the articles from a container constructed as last described the container is inverted and the perforated panel 28 torn out to give access to the contents. The display stand cut-out M is freed along its perforated outline and then bent upwards about its fold line [5 and erected as previously described.

It will be clear that any of the above described embodiments of the invention may readily be modified by reversingthe direction in which the display stand cut-out faces, and suitably disposing it relatively to the ends of the container so that when the display stand is erected it will be located at the rear end of the container. Such forms of the invention may be preferred for displaying and selling from counters or-stands of the kind in which the assistants serve from the front of the counter or stand.

If desired, the cut-out display stand in the last mentioned embodiment may be mounted upon a panel whichalso is defined by lines of perforations in the bottom of the container so that the panel can be freed along its top and sides and folded to produce an attached plinth or pedestal mounting for the display stand as above described with reference to Fig. 6.

I claim:

1. A container formed from a single blank and comprising a rectangular body including end walls, side walls and flaps extending inwards from the top edges of the side walls at right angles thereto and also including a cover hinged to the top edge of one end wall and extending to the other end wall in which a flap on the cover engages when the container is closed, said cover including a transverse medial fold line extending parallel to and spaced from the hinge-bearing end wall and about which line the cover can be folded back to a display position to enable the flap thereof to be tucked down adjacent the hinge bearing end wall and to form two superposed cover portions arranged parallel to each other and to the container bottom, the lower one of said portions being seated on the side wall flaps and means being provided for locking said lower portion to said flaps,'and the upper of said portions including a cut-out display stand portion adapted to be erected on and locked to said upper portion.

2. A container as defined in claim 1, wherein the fold line on the cover defines in the closed condition of the container a front cover portion and a rear cover portion, the front portion when folded about said line being disposed below and ALLAN HU'RNDELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 542,751 Boyden July 16, 1895 1,103,111 Wachter July 14, 1914 1,114,041 Richardson Oct. 20, 1914 1,136,099 Carter Apr. 20, 1915 1,363,298 Yeomans Dec. 28, 1920 1,535,077 Miller Apr. 21, 1925 1,564,250 Lambert Dec. 8, 1925 1,669,856 Brown May 15, 1928 1,678,538 Tanner July 24, 1928 1,999,968 Nickel Apr. 30, 1935 

